DP World sees London listing by end May

Dubai, May 11, 2011

DP World, the world's third-largest port operator, is on track for a dual listing on the London Stock Exchange as early as the end of May, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

DP World also said its consolidated terminals handled 6.8 million twenty-foot equivalent container unit (TEU) in the first quarter, up 8.5 per cent from the prior year.

"We remain on track to list on the London Stock Exchange around the end of May or early June," Mohammed Sharaf said in a statement to Nasdaq Dubai.

He said the listing was subject to completion of the admission process by the UK Listing Authority (UKLA).

The port operator's consolidated volume growth in the first quarter was 7.5 per cent, adding that its gross volumes were up by 12 per cent.

Shares of DP World, listed currently on Nasdaq Dubai, were up 1.6 per cent at 0800 GMT.

DP World - considered one of the more profitable units of debt-laden Dubai World - said last month that it planned for a one-for-20 share consolidation to put its share price more on a par with global companies. Sharaf said DP World's share consolidation will take place on May 19.

The company said its free float would remain unchanged at 19.55 per cent. The consolidation will reduce the number of issued shares to 830 million from 16.6 billion.

DP World agreed to sell its remaining stake in container services firm P&O Trans Australia (POTA) last month, its second sale in Australia after it sold its Australian operations in December to private equity firm Citi Infrastructure Investors (CII) for $1.5 billion.

The company posted a 35 per cent increase in 2010 net profit and said it was on course to list on the London Stock Exchange later this year. – Reuters